How to prevent household gas explosion

Nowadays, most families use gas cylinders to cook instead of the cumbersome method of making fire. This not only greatly saves cooking time, but also allows meals to cook faster. However, gas is a very dangerous thing. It is mainly liquefied gas and is very prone to explosion. Therefore, gas threatens people's lives and safety at all times. You must learn to prevent household gas explosions to ensure your own safety.

What is LPG?

Liquefied petroleum gas is actually what we often call coal gas in our daily life. Coal gas and liquefied petroleum gas are different fuel gases. The gas used in households today is liquefied petroleum gas, not coal gas. People usually call liquefied petroleum gas "coal gas", which is a name used in the past. Liquefied petroleum gas is a kind of petroleum tail gas left over in the process of refining petroleum into gasoline, kerosene, diesel, heavy oil and other oil products. Through a certain procedure, the petroleum tail gas is recycled and utilized, and pressurized measures are taken to turn it into liquid and store it in a pressurized container. The name of liquefied gas comes from this. It is in liquid form in the gas cylinder. Once it flows out, it will vaporize into a flammable gas about 250 times larger than its original volume. It is extremely easy to spread and will burn or explode if it encounters an open flame.

How to maintain liquefied petroleum gas cylinders?

In order to protect people's lives and safety, the "Regulations on Safety Supervision of Special Equipment" promulgated by the State Council lists liquefied petroleum gas cylinders as legally supervised equipment. Liquefied gas cylinders are not permanent durable products. After analyzing a large number of accident cases and conducting scientific experiments, professional technicians have determined that the safe service life of liquefied gas cylinders is only 15 years. During this period, regular inspections must be carried out every four years to detect any defects.

According to the latest regulations, the lifespan of a general household liquefied gas cylinder is 8 years and it must be inspected every 3 years. It must be scrapped upon expiration. If it is to be continued in use, it must be commissioned for inspection by a cylinder inspection agency and can only be used after passing the inspection (see GB5842-2006, National Quality Inspection Special Letter (2007) No. 402).

How should gas cylinders be used in daily life to prevent explosion?

Qualified cylinders must have a permanent stamp of the original manufacturing date, a certificate of conformity, the manufacturing license number and enterprise code of the manufacturer, and the factory number of the gas cylinder and other parameters. Gas cylinder valve manufacturers shall ensure that the gas cylinder valves can be used safely at least until the next inspection cycle of the gas cylinder.

How should gas cylinders be used in daily life to prevent explosion?

When purchasing liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, please be sure to purchase them at regular filling points and check whether they meet the conditions shown in the two pictures above, such as the stamped production date, manufacturer and other information.

Safe use of liquefied gas cylinders

1. Always pay attention to whether the air valve is leaking.

2. Close the gas valve after use.

3. The gas pipe should be replaced regularly (up to two years).

4. Store the gas tank in a cool, dry and low-temperature place. Pay special attention not to keep it too close to the gas stove. It is recommended to keep it more than 1.5 meters away.

5. Do not bump the liquefied gas cylinder.

6. Do not use upside down.

7. When multiple liquefied gas cylinders are used together, the distance between the cylinders must not be less than 1 meter.

8. When replacing the liquefied gas cylinder, make sure the connector is properly connected.

9. If any abnormality occurs in the equipment, please seek professional help for repair immediately.

What conditions are needed for a liquefied gas cylinder explosion to cause a chemical explosion?

1. There is gas;

2. With oxygen;

3. There is open flame or spark for ignition.

Under normal circumstances, there is only liquefied gas in a liquefied gas cylinder, no oxygen, no open flame or spark, so it will not explode. However, when there is a leak in the gas tank, valve, air pipe, etc., it mixes with the air in a certain proportion and encounters an open flame or spark, an explosion will occur. In fact, this is not an explosion of the liquefied gas cylinder, but the liquefied gas leaked into the air exploding in space.

The above is about chemical explosions. There is also physical explosion. Unlike chemical explosions, physical explosions occur inside liquefied gas cylinders. When liquefied gas cylinders are subjected to high temperatures such as fire, the gas inside the cylinder increases its internal energy and the intermolecular repulsion continues to increase. There is a need to expand the space, but the sealing effect of the cylinder cannot meet the demand for expanding the volume. The pressure of the gas inside on the cylinder wall will increase. When the pressure on the cylinder wall is so great that it exceeds the maximum force that the cylinder wall material itself can withstand, a burst occurs, which is a physical explosion.

So in fact, as long as the three conditions are not met at the same time, the liquefied petroleum gas cylinder will not explode, and you don’t need to be overly nervous during normal use.